Report warns of the increased use of SEO Poisoning to spread malware

You'll undoubtedly be excited to know that the Internet security firm Websense has recently released its annual Threat Report. Other than trying to scare you into buying every single product the company has ever released, the paper highlights the growing problem of Black Hat SEO, or SEO Poisoning, which (if done right) sends malware-ridden links closer to the top of your Google search results. According to Network World, some 22.4 percent of Google searches performed since June produced malicious URLs (such as fake antivirus sites or malware downloads) as part of the top 100 search results, as opposed to 13.7 percent in the second half of 2009. It seems that the old model of cyber-attacks, involving peer-to-peer virus infection, is becoming increasingly ineffective as anti-virus companies step up their game, causing nogoodniks to rely on search results, websites, and zero-day attacks. That said, there is a silver lining: as Network World goes on to explain, these days you are actually less likely to get malware from "adult content" sites than in previous years. Or should we say, that's good news for your "friend" or "co-worker."